Places to live in NYC

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

I have a friend who is contemplating moving to NYC. What are some reasonable neighborhoods for a single female? She's probably like to keep her rent under $1,200.

[turnipmonster]

anywhere in manhattan is very safe.

my two favorite neighborhoods in brooklyn are williamsburg/greenpoint and brooklyn heights. prospect park is also nice.

important things for her to consider:

- pick an apartment that is near a subway line. she doesn't want to have to walk 20 blocks home at 3am after getting off the subway

- make sure she visits the place in the evening and that she feels safe there at night. some places are fine during the day but sketchy at night

- odds are she will have to have a roommate. everyone has a roommate in the city, it's just too expensive otherwise. people in other places think the random roommate thing is weird, but here it's normal.

the outer boroughs (not manhattan) are generally cheaper. I am obviously biased towards brooklyn, but queens is nice too (a little farther on the train though). astoria (queens) is pretty cool.

--turnipmonster

[BottlesOf]

She's probably like to keep her rent under $1,200.


Somewhere small [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[Garbonzo]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a friend who is contemplating moving to NYC. What are some reasonable neighborhoods for a single female? She's probably like to keep her rent under $1,200.

[/ QUOTE ]

Brooklyn. If she wants to live alone she basically can't afford Manhattan.

Avoid the UE side, despite cheap prices as you get up there...

NYC is the kind of place where anything can happen anywhere. At 5:30 AM Saturday night two guys attacked a 31 year old giirl, on the street, at 35th and 3rd...which is about as safe, and horrendous, place to live as there is in NYC.

I vote Brooklyn, but not Billyburg or Greenpoint, commonly known as Sanfrancisco East...Fort Greene, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Windsor Terrace, Carrol Gardens, Brooklyn Heights, Boerum Hill etc...

Close to a Subway is key, and preferably more than one. Really, close a BIG station is good. Atlantic, Borough Hall, etc....

[NJchick]

$1,200 in Manhattan is impossbile unless you are looking for roomates and/or don't mind living in traditionally non desriable ares like Harlem or Washington Heights.

Just to give you an idea, a good friend of mine lives in Chelsea in a 400sf studio and pays $2,500 a month.

For $1,200 she's looking at the outer boroughs, Westchester County, Long Island or NJ.

Tell her to check out Craigslist

http://newyork.craigslist.org/

[Garbonzo]

[ QUOTE ]
$1,200 in Manhattan is impossbile unless you are looking for roomates and/or don't mind living in traditionally non desriable ares like Harlem or Washington Heights.

Just to give you an idea, a good friend of mine lives in Chelsea in a 400sf studio and pays $2,500 a month.

For $1,200 she's looking at the outer boroughs, Westchester County, Long Island or NJ.

Tell her to check out Craigslist

http://newyork.craigslist.org/

[/ QUOTE ]

A friend of mine has a studio in Brooklyn Heights for 1100, which is cheap. It's not like $1200 and she has to live in straight up ghetto...

Craiglist is a good idea.

The key to shopping for apartments in NYC is patience and word of mouth.

[Martin Aigner]

NJchick,

OMG, I can´t believe this. 2500 for a 400 ft² studio???

Just curious: How much is the average income in NYC? How much makes somebody who works on a counter in a bank or has an average office job?

Thanks in advance

Martin Aigner

[boedeker]

i had a nice stuidio in park slope (favorite neighborhood in brooklyn: lots of cool bars for young folks and right on prospect park for awesome spring,summer,fall relaxation) for 1k per month.

[Garbonzo]

[ QUOTE ]
NJchick,

OMG, I can´t believe this. 2500 for a 400 ft² studio???

Just curious: How much is the average income in NYC? How much makes somebody who works on a counter in a bank or has an average office job?

Thanks in advance

Martin Aigner

[/ QUOTE ]

Probably 40-55k.

Chelsea is definitely a top tier neighborhood regarding price.

[VinnyTheFish]

[ QUOTE ]
NYC is the kind of place where anything can happen anywhere. At 5:30 AM Saturday night two guys attacked a 31 year old giirl, on the street, at 35th and 3rd...which is about as safe, and horrendous, place to live as there is in NYC.


[/ QUOTE ]

I worked on 3rd and 40th for a few years. Loved the bars, close to all good things, but I would not have lived there.

The village is so much better and a bit safer. The rent is way, way above 1500/mo. Not to mention that most agents want a bond equal to one years or more. It kept me out of living there.

The best advice is to simply answer ad's. This way you can avoid all the larger fees and bonds.